Vacuum breaker



Sept. 27, 1938. A. c. 'DoBRlcK ET AL v' 2,131,430

VACUUM BREAKER n original Filed Nov. '25, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 1 Sept. 27, 1938. A. c. DoBRlcK ET Al.

VACUUM B REAKER Original Filed Nov. 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 27, 1938 l y UNITED STATES PATENT oFEicE VACUUM BREAKER August C. Dobrick and Ralph A, Tank, Chicago, Ill., assignors to The Imperial Brass Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application'A November z5, 1935, serial No. 51,382

- Renewed March 3, 1,938

18 Claims. (Cl. 137-69) Our invention is concerned with vacuum said end with the gasket 24 interposed in the breakers for use with flush valves, etc., of the customary manner. f type shown in the patent to William C. Shanley, The upper end of the casing I8 is secured to No. 2,087,049, granted July 13, 1937, in which the the inlet member by the annulus 24 which` is pipe between the valve and the bowl or similar externally threaded to screw into the top of 5 member is provided with an air inlet to prevent the casing I8, and internally threaded tov screw back-Siphonage, vand a valve cooperating thereonto the reduced portion 25 of the inlet member with to prevent the possibility of any water being I4. 'Ihe annulus 24'* is preferably sweated or forced outward through the air inlet during the otherwise permanently. secured upon the member 10 flushing operation, as may tend to occur where I4. The air inlets 25, preferably four in number 10 the back-pressure is unusually high. and of the shape shown in Figs. 2 and 4, extend In the vacuum breaker shown in the aforesaid through the annulus 24' and are protected from Shanley application, the valve and its casing are the entry of anything except air ,by the skirt 2l located outside of and to one side ofthe pipe, preferably formed integrally with the member` making an asymmetrical structure and one in I4 and extending over the inlets 26, and thence 15 which the valve casing protrudes so that it is downwardly. v likely to be accidentally struck and possibly What may be considered as added features to knocked off. In our improved construction the the structure of the vacuum breaker of the aforemember carrying the inlet takes the form of said Shanley application No. 6,761 will now be annulus with the axis of the pipe as a center, so described. Instead of having the nozzle inte- 20 as to prevent any objectionable projections, and gral for its entire length, the lower part 28 is the valve is preferably held open by gravity informed of a separate tube, preferably with the stead of closed, as in the aforesaid Shanley vertical ribs 29 on its exterior and with its upper vacuum breaker. end threaded into the annulus 24" and contact- To illustrate our invention we annex hereto ing the portion 25 to form a continuous outlet. 25 two sheets of drawings in which the same refer- Ears 30 project from the lower end of the part ence characters are used to designate identical 28, and pivoted on the ears are `the hinged p0rparts in all the gures, of whichtions 3| of the aps 32, preferably two in num- Flg. 1 is a side elevation of a flush valve with ber, by the pins 33,`which are loosely mounted in 30 our vacuum breaker applied thereto. the aperturesof the ears 30 and the portions 3I 30 Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the vacuum so that there can never beany danger of bindbreaker on an enlarged scale. ing due to corrosion or possible impurities in the Fig. 3 is a portion of a similar view but with water. To insure the pins 33 remaining in place, the parts shown in their non-flushing position. we, as seen in Fig. 5, make them so long that Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are horizontal sections on the their ends almost contact withI the casing I8. 35 lines 4 4, 5 5, and 6-6 of Figsg2 and 3. The hinged portions' 3| are shaped, as seen in As usual, the supply pipe I0 to be protected Figs. 2 and 3, so as to cooperate with the annular opens into a hush valve II, which may be of any valve member 34 which preferably has-'the rubdesired construction, operated by the handle I2 ber seat 35 set in its upper portion to cooperate 40 and having the outlet I3 upon which is screwed with the annular seat formed by the annular ribs 4o the inlet member I4 by the connection I5, pref- 35 projecting downwardly from and forming the erably integral with the -body portion I5 which bottom of an annular channel 31 in the annulus has its internal cross section tapered, as seen at 24 and extending to the air inlets 26. 'I'he ribs I'l, to produce a nozzle effect as shown in the 29 guide the member 34 and reduce any possible vacuum breaker of the Shanley application No. friction. As seen in Fig. 5, the semi-annular 45 6,761 ed February 15, 1935, upon which our aps 32 do not quite meet at their edges so that invention in some respects may be considered to a passage for air from the outside up through be an improvement. The casing member Il is in the inlet member I4 always exists when the valve the form of agenerally cylindrical shell with II is not in operation, and the weight of the A the inwardly and downwardly inclined flange annulus 24 resting on the hinged members 3| 60 portion I9 forming a reduced outlet 20 of an holds them closed, as' seen in Fig. 3. Instead of area slightly larger than that of the nozzle outvleaving a passage between the flaps, we might let 28. Its lower end is externally threadedv so form one or two small apertures therethrough, as that the threaded connection 22 may be usecl to indicated in dotted lines at 38 in Fig. 5. When, secure the flanged upper end of the pipe 23 to however, the flushing, occurs, as indicated in Fig. 66

2, the flow of the water swings the flaps 32 to the position shown, and the hinged members 3| lift the annulus to the position shown, sealing the air inlets 2li and preventing the possibility of any water being forced out through them by back' pressure, no matter how strong.

While we have shown and described our invention as embodied in the form which we at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modication, and that We do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claims except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

What we claim is new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a. vacuum breaker, the combination with a chamber having an outlet through which a liquid is discharged at intervals, of a nozzle extending thereinto well toward the outlet, a flap held by gravity against the outlet of said nozzle when there is no discharge of the liquid, an air inlet to said chamber concentric with the nozzle, and a valve member cooperating with the air inlet controlled by the flap.

2. In a vacuum breaker, the combination with a chamber having an outlet, of a nozzle extending thereinto well toward the outlet, a pair of flaps pivoted on the nozzle and held by gravity against the end of the nozzle, an air inlet to said chamber concentric with the nozzle, and a valve member cooperating with the flaps and moved thereby to engage the inlet.

3. A vacuum breaker as` defined in claim 1 in which the valve member holds the flap to the nozzle.

4. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 1 in which the flap is pivoted to the nozzle and the valve member rests on a portion of the flap to hold it normally to the nozzle outlet.

5. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 1 in which there are a pair of flaps pivoted to the nozzle substantially closing its outlet and the annular valve member rests on portions of the aps.

6. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 1 in which the air inlet is located in an annulus connecting the tops of the chamber and the nozzle.

'1. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 1 in which there are a plurality of arcuate air inlets in an annulus connecting the tops of the chamber and the nozzle.

8. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 1 in which a plurality of arcuate air inlets are located in an annulus connecting the tops of the chamber and the nozzle and the valve member is an annulus beneath the inlets and rests directly on portions of the flaps to hold them against the nozzle outlet.

9. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 1 yin which there are a pair of flaps pivoted to the nozzle substantially closing its outlet, and in which there are a plurality of arcuate air inlets located in an annulus connecting the tops of the chamber and the nozzle and the valve member is an annulus beneath the inlets resting directly on portions of the flaps to hold them against the nozzle outlet.

10. In a vacuum breaker, the combination with a cylindrical chamber having an outlet at its bottom, of a nozzle let into the top thereof and extending towards its outlet and concentric therewith, an apertured annulus connecting the top of the chamber and the upper part of the nozzle, a nap cooperating with the outlet of the nozzle, and an annular valve member surrounding the nozzle and located between the flap and the apertured annulus and moved by the former` to engage it with the latter.

11. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim in which there are a pair of flaps pivoted to the bottom of the nozzle.

12. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which there are a pair of flaps pivoted to the bottom of the nozzle and the annular valve member normally rests directly on portions of the flaps.

13. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which there are a pair of flaps loosely pivoted to the bottom of the nozzle by pins passing loosely through the pivotal portion of the flaps and ears on the nozzle and extending to the inner wall of the chamber.

14. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which there are vertical ribs interposed between the exterior of the nozzle and the interior of the annular valve member to reduce friction.

15. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which there are vertical ribs on the exterior of the nozzle to position the annular valve member and to reduce friction.

16. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which there is a skirt extending from the top of the nozzle over the apertured annulus and thence downward.

17. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which the nozzle is composed of two parts with the lower part having the ilappivoted thereto and with the upper part threaded to the apertured annulus.

18. A vacuum breaker as defined in claim 10 in which the apertured annulus has a pair of annular members projecting downwardly from its under side forming Va valve seat with which the annular valve member cooperates.

AUGUST C.- DOBRICK. RALPH A. TANK.

to position the latter and 

